


Past Metamorphosis

by ElvyRay



Category: Leverage
Genre: Coming Out, Multi, Non-Binary Parker, OT3, Pansexual Alec Hardison, Trans Eliot Spencer, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElvyRay/pseuds/ElvyRay
Summary: Eliot Spencer has a tattoo of a butterfly on his back. Hardison's always assumed its part of Eliot's past; the past with Moreau he doesn't talk about. Parker just thinks Eliot likes admiring the natural world.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	Past Metamorphosis

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I don't write fan fiction very often, or fiction in general, but I hope you enjoy this. I have another fic I might expand on and maybe make it part of a series. Let me know what you think!  
> Thx,  
> Elvy (he/they)

The first time Eliot took his shirt off in front of Parker and Hardison, he faced away from them. If he hadn't done it so, _secretively_ , if he hadn't faced away, Parker thought, she may have not noticed it was the first time. _Why was he so uncomfortable?_

Hardison didn't think about that; he thought about the way Eliot's hair just reached his bare shoulders, the scars that marked his back like his sins marked his past, and the butterfly tattoo who's wings reached from his left shoulder to his lower back. The wings were detailed with a lace-like design. _The precision the artist must have had..._ _it was gorgeous._

Eliot rushed upstairs and changed his shirt. He didn't turn to face his lovers. He couldn't risk it, yet; he'd lose too much. 

"Clean shirt," he said, pointing to it, and chuckled awkwardly.

"I see that. Where'd you get your ink, Eliot?" Hardison asked, turning to face Eliot who'd just reached the bottom of the spiral staircase. Parker patted on the couch in between she and Hardison to indicate the seat was for Eliot. He took the offer.

"The butterfly tattoo? An old friend did it, back in the...day." Eliot had got it back in the day, but several years before Moreau. He was 17 years old and in his senior year of high school. He told a white lie and said he was 18. Just like he'd been lying to his parents that year: about his gradually deepening voice and the light stubble that he'd shave off long before his parents got out of bed. 

"Oh. Right. Back in the day," Hardison said, assuming Eliot meant whatever he and Moreau had done. 

"Eliot, why didn't you turn around when you had your shirt off? Why is this first time you've taken your shirt off in front of us? And why haven't we had sex yet? We've been dating for three months." Parker asked, bluntly.

Eliot's eyes widened, only slightly. 

"Not that we have to have sex." Hardison interjected. He wasn't sure of the complexities of his partners' sexualities and he didn't want to pressure them. 

"No, no. We don't have to. I wouldn't mind at all if we didn't. It just seemed like the sort of thing people in relationships do," she said.

"I- okay. I appreciate that. I'd like to... to have sex at some point. I just." Eliot sighed at a loss of words. _How should he bring this up? Coming out was always weird. He'd done it so many times, but it still felt like Russian Roulette._ He pursed his lips and stood up to face them.

"The butterfly tattoo, the shirt thing, y'know, not taking it off much? The facing away and the not-having-sex thing... they, they're all connected." Eliot began.

"Oooh! I know this one!" Parker said. "It all has to do with your body, doesn't it? I mean, you're uncomfortable with it, aren't you?"

"Eliot, you know you don't have to be-" Hardison started, standing up to hug Eliot.

"No. It's more like- it's not that simple. I'm comfortable with body. Now. But it took me a long time to become comfortable and I'm worried that you two _won't_ be. Because I'm transgender. I'm a trans man. I didn't face you because I've got scars from top surgery," he gestured to his chest. "We haven't had sex because I needed to tell you first. There's ground rules, alright? Things I'm not comfortable with. I just didn't feel ready for a long time, but I guess it's time you know."

Hardison and Parker were silent for a moment. Eliot's hands felt clammy, the moment lasted excruciatingly long.

"And the butterfly?" Parker asked, unsure if she should have said something else. 

"The butterfly symbolizes metamorphosis in trans spaces. I got it on my one month anniversary of starting T. Uh, testosterone shots." Eliot figured the best course of action would be to answer truthfully and calmly, regardless of their reactions.

"Ohh, I wondered if it meant anything. I thought maybe it was a Moreau gang symbol, or something. I don't know, man. Just glad you weren't in a gang." Hardison stood up and pecked Eliot on the cheek.

"Parker?" Eliot asked.

"Huh? Oh. That's fine! Why were you worried about that?" She stood up and took Eliot and Hardison by the hands. "I love you both very much."

Eliot took off his shirt more often in front of Hardison and Parker after that. 


End file.
